SHANGHAI, China (AP) -- A county in southwestern China has killed as many as 50,000 dogs in a government-ordered campaign following the deaths of three local people from rabies, official media reported on Tuesday.

The five-day massacre in Yunnan province's Mouding county spared only military guard dogs and police canine units, the Shanghai Daily reported, citing local media.

Dogs being walked were taken from their owners and beaten to death on the spot, it said. Other killing teams entered villages at night creating noise to get dogs barking, then homing in on their prey.

About 360 of the county's 200,000 residents suffered dog bites this year, with three reported deaths, including a 4-year-old girl, the report said.

"With the aim to keep this horrible disease from people, we decided to kill the dogs," Li Haibo, a spokesman for the county government was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency.

Calls to county government offices rang unanswered on Tuesday.

China has suffered a major rise in the number of rabies cases in recent years, with 2,651 reported deaths from the disease in 2004, the last year for which data was available, according to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Experts have tied the rise in cases in part to a major increase in dog ownership, particularly in rural areas where about 70 percent of households keep dogs. However, rates of rabies vaccination remain extremely low at only about 3 percent, according to the center.

Dogs being walked were taken from their owners and beaten to death on the spot, it said.

Shhh... Hear that?

That's the sound of my respect for the Shanghai police evaporating on the spot._________________There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.

Dogs being walked were taken from their owners and beaten to death on the spot, it said.

Shhh... Hear that?

That's the sound of my respect for the Shanghai police evaporating on the spot.

That's the sound of... THAT'S that sound of your respect evaporating? Because of DOGS? The Shanghai police? The police of a state with one of the worst human rights records in the modern world?! A one-party totalitarian state where you can be executed on a whim for spreading ideas? A state that excuted more people than all other countries in the world last year? AND IT TOOK KILLING SOME FUCKING DOGS TO GET RID OF YOUR RESPECT?!

Dogs being walked were taken from their owners and beaten to death on the spot, it said.

Shhh... Hear that?

That's the sound of my respect for the Shanghai police evaporating on the spot.

That's the sound of... THAT'S that sound of your respect evaporating? Because of DOGS? The Shanghai police? The police of a state with one of the worst human rights records in the modern world?! A one-party totalitarian state where you can be executed on a whim for spreading ideas? A state that excuted more people than all other countries in the world last year? AND IT TOOK KILLING SOME FUCKING DOGS TO GET RID OF YOUR RESPECT?!

But dissenters don't have wet-puppy eyes. But yeah, you took the words out of my mouth._________________A cigarette is the perfect type of a perfect pleasure. It is exquisite, and it leaves one unsatisfied. What more can one want? ~Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Easy bro... little joke there... Admittedly maybe not that funny... but what the hell._________________There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.

Last edited by Fhqwhgads on Wed Aug 02, 2006 7:24 am; edited 1 time in total

Dogs being walked were taken from their owners and beaten to death on the spot, it said.

Shhh... Hear that?

That's the sound of my respect for the Shanghai police evaporating on the spot.

That's the sound of... THAT'S that sound of your respect evaporating? Because of DOGS? The Shanghai police? The police of a state with one of the worst human rights records in the modern world?! A one-party totalitarian state where you can be executed on a whim for spreading ideas? A state that excuted more people than all other countries in the world last year? AND IT TOOK KILLING SOME FUCKING DOGS TO GET RID OF YOUR RESPECT?!

But dissenters don't have wet-puppy eyes. But yeah, you took the words out of my mouth.

Personally, a dog being beaten to death hits me harder than a persons life being ended the same way.

This came to mind:_________________A cigarette is the perfect type of a perfect pleasure. It is exquisite, and it leaves one unsatisfied. What more can one want? ~Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray